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Wednesday, September 29, 2021 Mortenson Plaza | Hartford, CT

Teresa C. Younger Kica Matos Jerimarie Leisegang

Welcome to the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame 28th Annual Induction Ceremony & Celebration Thank you for joining us tonight at our first-ever outdoor Induction Ceremony! The last year and a half has been difficult for all of us, and we greatly appreciate your attendance here this evening. It warms our hearts that you have continued to support us through such challenging times. This year we are highlighting Leaders for Social Justice. We are honored by the three women we’re inducting tonight, and we’re humbled by their important work. Born apparently with backbones of steel, these three women have spent most of their lives advancing justice in the face of great adversity. Let me also mention our Spotlight recipients who are also role models in the fight for equity, diversity and inclusion in our communities, and we salute them for their exemplary work. Social justice for all of our citizens starts with the big three – access to food, shelter and clean water. But social justice goes way beyond these basics. All people need access to health care and economic opportunities as well. These key elements of social justice help to promote broad equality, encompassing race, religion, gender, sexual identity, age, and disabilities, among others. While we have come a long way, there is still much work to be done. Let’s pledge tonight to continue the fight for equity and inclusion for ALL people, so they can prosper and live their lives with dignity and respect. When ALL of us have the same opportunities, good things can happen for everyone. The three women we are inducting tonight are living proof that if you keep fighting for justice, eventually justice will come! One final point: Everything we do is because of you. Without your support and presence tonight, we would not be able to develop educational programs that reach women and girls across the state. With your continued commitment, we not only honor those who have dedicated their lives to social justice, we also help to inspire our next generation of female leaders to do the same. Thank you! Gratefully,

Sarah Smith Lubarsky Executive Director

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Schedule of Events Welcome

Deb Geyer, Vice President, Environment, Health,

Safety and Corporate Social Responsibility, Stanley Black & Decker

Board Chair Remarks

Desiree Wolfe, Director of Product Management, Webster Bank

Executive Director Remarks

Sarah Smith Lubarsky, CWHF Executive Director

Spotlight Recipient Co-Chairs

Joaquina Borges King, Senior Counsel, Eversource Abby Warren, Partner, Robinson+Cole

2021 Founding President’s Award

Geena Clonan, CWHF Founding President

Accepting

Patti Russo, Executive Director, Yale Campaign School

Induction Ceremony Hall of Fame Inductees

"Bread and Roses" sung by Judy Collins

2021 Inductions Kica Matos Tribute Film Presenting Accepting Jerimarie Liesegang Tribute Film Presenting Accepting Teresa C. Younger Tribute Film Presenting Accepting

United States Senator Richard Blumenthal Kica Matos

Anne Stanback, 2006 CWHF Inductee Ewa Wolynska Special Collections Librarian and Archivist, CCSU Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro Teresa C. Younger

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

For Those Who Make The World™ Since 1843.

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

A Message From Deb J. Geyer Vice President, Environment, Health, Safety and Corporate Social Responsibility It’s my honor to serve as one of the trustees for the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame to recognize, celebrate, and inspire women while furthering Stanley Black & Decker’s commitment to gender parity. I’m also excited about Stanley Black & Decker serving as this year’s Title Sponsor for the 28th Annual Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. This year’s theme, “Leaders for Social Justice,” is very timely and fitting given all that is occurring in our world. I applaud and commend the Women’s Hall of Fame for having the vision to uplift “Leaders for Social Justice,” by empowering young women and building leaders throughout Connecticut. It is my absolute pleasure to extend a warm Stanley Black & Decker congratulations to the heroic women being inducted tonight: Teresa C. Younger, Kica Matos, and Jerimarie Liesegang (1950-2020).” Stanley Black & Decker is ‘For Those Who Make The World’, and that includes demanding justice, taking a stand for equality, and committing to inclusivity for all. We strive to build and nurture a culture where all employees can thrive and where inclusiveness is a reflex, not an initiative—where there is a deep sense of pride, passion and belonging that transcends any role, business unit, language or country. We have been recognized with a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index for taking bold steps to reinforce our commitment to diversity and inclusion. For example, we have joined Paradigm for Parity, committing to working toward gender parity in corporate leadership by 2030. Stanley Black & Decker also supports the UN Foundation’s Equal Everywhere movement to support full equality for girls and women and to make advancements for women in STEAM careers and the construction industry. Like the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, Stanley Black & Decker is for those who make the world better. Through our partnerships with inspiring non-profits and with the volunteer efforts of our dedicated employees, we are helping to make our communities a better place to live. We are proud to partner with organizations that share in this commitment to advocate and implement positive change. As an employer to over 56,000 people and a global corporate citizen, we recognize our vital role in fostering equality. And while we celebrate success to date, we have ambitious work ahead. Informed by our employees, customers, and communities – we’re moving forward with a plan in place. Our roadmap to reaching gender equality takes into account corporate culture, career opportunities and community involvement. Thank you to the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame for their remarkable work! Let’s all do our part to educate, support, recognize, and serve as role models for women in Connecticut and globally to make our world inclusive of Leaders for Social Justice.

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2021 Inductees Teresa C. Younger Teresa C. Younger is an activist, advocate, renowned public-speaker, organizational strategist, and a proven leader in the philanthropic and policy sectors. Having spent over 20 years on the frontlines of some of the most critical battles for comprehensive equity and the elimination of institutionalized oppression, she now serves as the President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women. Prior to joining the Ms. Foundation for Women, Younger served as the executive director of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and as executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut -- the first African American and the first woman to hold that position. Younger is a thought leader at the critical intersections of gender and race. Within the philanthropic sector she serves on initiatives to shape and change the narrative of women and girls, including Grantmakers for Girls of Color, Funders for Reproductive Equity, Philanthropy New York and Black Funders for Social Justice. Additionally, Younger serves on a number of boards including the Ethel Walker School and Essie Justice Group. She has appeared on MSNBC’s UP with David Gura, NBC News, NPR Radio, Elle Magazine, Cosmopolitan, SiriusXM, and in USA Today, AP, Rewire, BadassWomen Leaders.com podcast and the New York Times. Younger is a graduate of the University of North Dakota and in 2018 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in Humanities from the University of New Haven. She is also a proud lifetime Girl Scout and Gold Award recipient.

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Kica Matos Kica Matos is the VP of Initiatives at the Vera Institute of Justice. Prior to joining Vera, Kica was the Director of Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice at the Center for Community Change, an organization whose mission is to empower the people most affected by injustice to lead movements to improve the policies that affect their lives. Kica has been a national advocate for immigration reform and coordinated the work of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, the nation’s largest network of immigrant rights organizations. She has extensive experience as an advocate, community organizer, and lawyer. Kica has also headed up the U.S. Reconciliation and Human Rights Program at Atlantic Philanthropies. Before joining Atlantic Philanthropies, she served as deputy mayor in the city of New Haven, where she oversaw the city’s community programs and launched new initiatives including prisoner re-entry, youth and immigrant integration. Kica was previously the executive director of JUNTA, New Haven’s oldest Latino advocacy organization. She also worked as an assistant federal defender for death sentenced inmates and with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Amnesty International on death penalty and criminal justice issues. She has a B.A. from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, an M.A. from the New School and a J.D. from Cornell Law School. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Albertus Magnus College in 2017 and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of New Haven in 2019.

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2021 Inductees Jerimarie Liesegang Jerimarie Liesegang was known as a tireless advocate for transgender rights in Connecticut. She started out as a Harvard PhD chemist and ended up an activist who embodied the definition of intersectional work. She founded several organizations such as It’s Time Connecticut, and a political organization Queers Without Boarders. She was active with CWEALF, PFLAG and on the Board of Love Makes a Family and the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective. Jerimarie marched in the first Hartford Pride parade and in 2002 with her wife Anja Schaedler started the observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance in Connecticut. According to those that knew her, her proudest achievement was the amendment of Connecticut Public Act No. 11-55. An act that included “gender identity or expression” to the list of what protections were embedded in the act. She fought for the trans community and this legislation for over a decade until Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed it into law in 2011. Jerimarie would work with other oppressed groups as well. She lived her life and work through a quote from the Black lesbian civil rights activist Audre Lorde: “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, as we do not lead single-issue lives. On November 3, Jerimarie Liesegang, the woman who many consider the grandmother of the transgender movement in Connecticut died of cancer at age 70.

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Induction Committee The Induction Committee is a committee of our Board which includes both Trustees and outside members whose expertise aids in the selection of each year’s induction theme and slate of Inductees.

Tracy Tyree, Ph.D. Chair

Rosalyn Amenta, M.A.R., Ph.D.

Sarah Smith Lubarsky

Vice President for Student Affairs Southern Connecticut State University

Director of Women's Programs Southern Connecticut State University

Kim A. Healey Executive Director NewAlliance Foundation

Executive Director Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame

Ndidi Moses Assistant United States Attorney U.S. Attorney’s Office

Consulting Scholars Committee The academic arm of the CWHF, the Consulting Scholars Committee, researches and evaluates potential historic Inductees and works with our Board of Trustees to develop an annual slate of nominees. Rosalyn Amenta, M.A.R., Ph.D. Chair Director of Women’s Programs Southern Connecticut State University

Siobhan Carter-David, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of History Southern Connecticut State University

Gwyneth H. Crowley, M.A., M.L.S.

Heather Munro Prescott, Ph.D.

Social Science Research Support Librarian Yale University

Professor of History and Coordinator of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Central Connecticut State University

Elizabeth Hohl, Ph.D. Professor of Women’s Studies and History Fairfield University

Lois Murray, M.A.

Margaret Alice Warren, M.A. Teacher Fairfield Woods Middle School

Teacher Ezra Academy Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

A Message From Desiree Wolfe Chair of the CWHF Board of Trustees Director of Product Management Webster Bank

We are deeply grateful that you are joining us for our 28th annual Induction Ceremony – Leaders for Social Justice. This year we’re honoring remarkable women who have championed the breaking of social barriers and pushed to level the playing field to create parity. Their work serves as a beacon for young men and women to think beyond perceived “barriers” to achieve their dreams. The past year has been one of the most challenging for us all, and it is because of your continued support that we have weathered the storm thus far. We have been able to shift into a more virtual space and can continue to honor the achievements of Connecticut women who have contributed their talents to Connecticut, our nation, and our world. We have more work to do! And with your generosity and partnership I feel great hope for the future as we continue to inspire future generations to believe in their own unlimited potential. Let us, together, continue to HONOR, EDUCATE, and INSPIRE.

Desiree Wolfe CWHF Board Chair

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Congratulations 2021 Spotlight Recipient

Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean

U R D E T S P I D KHALILAH BROW N-DEAN

ra fo a rd ns r w o i o at F r s ay ve r W n e Co et t B

Catch Disrupted Wednesdays & Sundays at 2 PM on Connecticut Public Radio. Listen on the go with our free Connecticut Public Mobile App, available on

Learn more at ctpublic.org/disrupted

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Our Sponsors

Thank You to our Corporate Sponsors

We are grateful for the generosity of all of our corporate sponsors! Your ongoing support makes our year-round work possible and helps us continue to share our remarkable Inductees’ stories with women and girls across Connecticut. Thank You!

Title

Gold

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Silver

Bronze Avangrid Foundation

Fernandez Advisors LLP

(in partnership with CNG, SCG and UI )

Medtronic

Barnes Group Foundation, Inc.

People’s United Bank

Calabresi Tocqueville Society

PwC

ConnectiCare, Inc.

Southern Connecticut State University

Connecticut Green Bank

TD Bank

Conning

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

The Ethel Walker School

Friends of the Hall The Big Green Pizza Truck

Marcum LLP

Ferris Events

Two Pour Guys

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C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S to the 2021 Inductees and Spotlight Recipients!

Thank you for strengthening our community and inspiring the next generation of leaders.

Complete solution, seamless integration, one partner. loureiro.com

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Tribute Films Tribute Film Producer Karyl Evans Karyl Evans is a six-time Emmy Award-winning director, writer, producer, and editor. She is the owner of Karyl Evans Productions LLC in North Haven, CT. Karyl creates long form documentaries and short videos for clients across CT including non-profits like the CT Audubon Society and the CT Bar \ Foundation, as well as educational institutions like Gateway and Yale University. Ms. Evans was a full-time Associate Professor at SCSU and is currently an Associate Fellow at Yale University. She mentors students and conducts master classes in documentary filmmaking. Karyl also screens her documentary films and lectures across the country. Karyl Evans recently received a Historical Preservation Award for her body of work from the Garden Club of America. For more information about Karyl Evans Productions LLC visit:

https://www.karylevansproductions.com

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Spotlight Recipients Enola G. Aird is a lawyer, activist mother, and founder and president of Community Healing Network. Launched in 2006, CHN is the only organization focused exclusively on attacking the lie of White superiority and Black inferiority—the root cause of the dehumanization of Black people in the United States and around the world. Under Aird’s leadership, CHN has put into place key elements to build the global grassroots movement for the emotional emancipation of Black people, including: 1) The Defy the Lie (of White superiority and Black inferiority) and Embrace the Truth (of Black Humanity) pledge campaign; 2) Community Healing/Wear Sky Blue Days—endorsed by Dr. Maya Angelou and observed on the third weekend of every October to put “time for healing” at the top of the global Black community’s agenda; 3) Rapid Response Ubuntu Healing Circles-–to respond to urgent needs for healing spaces in Black communities; 4) Emotional Emancipation Circles—a self-help support group process, originated by CHN and developed in collaboration with the Association of Black Psychologists, to help Black people heal from the trauma caused by the lie; and 5) The Valuing Black Lives Global Emotional Emancipation Summit—to develop global strategies to free ourselves and our children from the lie—once and for all. Aird was born in the Republic of Panama of Caribbean heritage, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Barnard College, and earned her J.D. from Yale Law School. A former corporate lawyer, she has worked at the Children’s Defense Fund and is a past chair of the Connecticut Commission on Children. Among her publications are: Toward a Renaissance for the African American Family: Confronting the Lie of Black Inferiority, 58 Emory Law Journal, 7-21 (2008); Breathe, Baby, Breathe: Clearing the Way for the Emotional Emancipation of Black People (with Cheryl Grills and Daryl Rowe), Cultural Studies, Vol. 16, No. 3, p. 333 (March 2016); The Case for Emotional Reparations, Parts 1 and 2, CHN Blogposts, April 29, 2019 and May 29, 2019; African Psychology and the Global Movement for Freedom from the Lie of Black Inferiority (with Cheryl Grills and Patrick Frierson), Alternation Journal, 27, No. 1, p. 170 (2020), South Africa; and To My Fellow Reparations Advocates: Don’t Forget the Root Cause, IBW21, February 17, 2021.

Patricia Baker is the founding leader of the Connecticut Health Founda-

tion, having guided the organization since its creation in 1999. Patricia retired as the President and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation September 2020 having led the foundation for 21 years. Under her leadership, the foundation became the state’s largest independent health philanthropy utilizing a combination of grantmaking, policy work, leadership development, and research to improve the health of Connecticut’s residents and eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. During her tenure the foundation awarded more than $67 million in grants and worked on topics including oral health, children’s mental health, expanding access to health coverage and care, improving the care delivery system, connecting clinical care and communities, and advocacy.

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Patricia came to the foundation with two decades of experience as a visionary, pragmatic leader in health care policymaking, service provision, advocacy, and community engagement. She served as the national program director for the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, director of Connecticut government programs at Oxford Health Plans, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, and associate executive director of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Patricia is the Vice-Chair of the Governor’s Health Care Cabinet, a member of the state’s Cost Growth Benchmark technical team and is a board member of Connecticut Hospice and the Connecticut League of Nursing. She received her master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in urban and regional planning.

Donna Berman In 2001, when Donna took the helm at Charter Oak Cultural Center, the organization was in a state of ruin and on the verge of closing its doors permanently. Donna breathed new life into the organization and today Charter Oak has become one of the area’s most vibrant multicultural arts centers. Donna instituted Charter Oak’s policy of never turning anyone away for lack of funds. Through her vision, leadership and commitment to social justice, she has made Charter Oak Cultural Center a haven for diverse groups to enjoy multi-cultural arts and explore the burning issues of our day. Donna started Charter Oak’s youth programming in 2001 with four students because the children in our neighborhood wanted to learn to dance. It became clear that no-cost, nonaudition-based out-of-school time arts programming is largely unavailable to young people in our community. Under her leadership, Charter Oak determined our mission would be best served by offering high-quality classes in the arts to these students who need it the most. Today, Charter Oak is still one of the only organizations in Hartford to provide youth art programming completely free of charge to all who wish to enter the program. In 2012, the program was selected as a finalist by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, distinguishing it as one of the top arts and humanities-based youth programs in the country. Donna was awarded the 2012 Elizabeth L. Mahaffey Arts Administration Fellowship through Connecticut’s Department of Community and Economic Development. She was also highlighted as one of Hartford Magazine’s 2012 Amazing Women and recently named one of Greater Hartford’s 12 most influential people, also by Hartford Magazine, along with individuals such as Governor Dannel Malloy, Mayor Pedro Segarra and Jim Calhoun. In the spring of 2010, Donna received the Human Relations Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice. In June 2010, she graduated from Hartford Family Institute’s training program in body-centered Gestalt therapy. In 2009, she was given the Dance Pioneer Award by Trinity College and in the spring of 2007 she was honored by American Friends Service Committee for her work in social justice. In 2006, Rabbi Berman received Leadership Greater Hartford’s Polaris Award in arts and culture.

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Spotlight Recipients Khalilah L. Brown-Dean is Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Political Science at Quinnipiac University. She earned the Henry R. Spencer Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Outstanding Faculty Award, the Fannie Lou Hamer Outstanding Community Service Award, and was named one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Higher Education by Diverse Magazine. Brown-Dean’s work centers the importance of identity in shaping access to democracy, justice, and representation with a particular emphasis on voting rights, civic engagement, and the politics of punishment. She is the author of Identity Politics in the United States (Polity Press 2019) and co-author of a new project entitled Protesting Vulnerability: Race and Pandemic Politics (Cambridge University Press). She is a highly sought after political analyst with contributions to The New York Times, MSNBC, L.A. Times, Fox News Radio, Democracy Now and other outlets. She hosts the weekly Connecticut Public Radio show and podcast, Disrupted. Dr. Brown-Dean is passionate about inclusive community development and is the Immediate Past Board Chair of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. It is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the United States, and the largest grant maker in a twenty town region. She currently Chairs the Greater New Haven COVID 19 Community Fund.

Glynda C. Carr is a politicist and the co-founder of Higher Heights for

America and Higher Heights Leadership Fund, the leading national organizations dedicated to building Black women’s collective political power from the voting booth to elected office. She is the co-creator of the #BlackWomenLead movement which is creating the environment for Black women to vote, run and lead.

Glynda is the former Executive Director of Education Voters of New York, a leading independent voice for school reform in the state. Prior to Education Voters, she was Chief of Staff to New York State Senator Kevin Parker (Brooklyn) where she also served as campaign manager for two of his successful re-election campaigns. Glynda has also held senior management positions with key national organizations including: the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. A sought-after speaker and trainer, she has also contributed to TheRoot.com, Ebony.com, and the Huffington Post. In 2018, she appeared on “Essence” magazine’s second annual Woke 100 list, saluting female changemakers.

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Callie Heilmann is the founder, President, and Co-Director of Bridge-

port Generation Now, a grassroots member-based organization that strengthens civic engagement in Bridgeport residents and our communities. Key to that work is using the tools of community organizing to dismantle systemic corruption and racism in Bridgeport, so that residents can collectively build the just, democratic, equitable, and livable city we know is possible. Callie is deeply passionate about community, cities, art, feminism, design, anti-racism, healing, entrepreneurship, and education. A graduate of Tulane University (2004) with degrees in Women’s Studies and Art History, Callie first pursued a Master’s of Arts at New York University (2008) in Visual Culture, applying a feminist and anti-racist lens to analyze representations of women’s bodies during the rise of fashion magazines in the mid-20th Century. Callie also holds a Master’s in Education from Hunter College (2012), City University of New York. Her research there focused on children’s relationship to and understanding of violence, and how that shows up in the urban classroom. Callie has taught elementary school and is a partner in the urban goods brand and retail store, Hartford Prints! which she started in 2012 with her sisters in her home city of Hartford, CT. She also serves on the advisory boards of PT Partners and the Smilow-Burroughs Wakeman Boys & Girls Club. Callie is also trained as a birth doula, and currently helps friends and loved ones with holistic childbirth education. Callie has lived in Bridgeport, CT for eight years with her partner Niels, and her three sons, Quincy, Levon, and Bruno. She believes deeply in the power of people to move the places that matter to them toward positive social change.

Marilyn Ondrasik has fought for social and economic justice her entire career. As a VISTA Volunteer in NYC, she saw the power of community organizing to achieve social change – and she was hooked. At the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), she organized neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Bronx that were “redlined” by banks (a refusal to lend in racially changing neighborhoods). Marilyn organized hundreds of people to take to the streets in picket lines and withdrawal campaigns to fight this discriminatory banking practice. Under intense community pressure, banks committed a total of $100 million for neighborhood investment. Her work spurred the NY Legislature to pass the Community Reinvestment Act. Next she founded The Straphangers Campaign and organized thousands of subway riders to speak out about deplorable conditions. The campaign won $5 billion for subway repairs and new subway cars, and creation of the Transportation Safety Board and MTA Inspector General. Marilyn served for 17 years as Executive Director of the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition (BCAC). She worked with low/moderate income families to come together to identify issues

Spotlight Recipients and become advocates for change. Marilyn directed BCAC’s research-based community-directed advocacy, community organizing and mobilization. Among her accomplishments were: policy changes by the Bridgeport Housing Authority that opened up hundreds of additional units to low income families; millions of dollars in new education funding for Bridgeport schools including $9.5 million for student behavioral and mental health needs; $60 million for school repairs; and passage of the Connecticut ban on assault weapons. She joined Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises, a community economic development nonprofit that creates green jobs for those with multiple barriers to employment. Marilyn helped build its operation to deconstruct used mattresses, recycling component parts for industrial reuse. She spearheaded expansion into recycling paper and cardboard from used books while providing new jobs in the community. More recently she worked with school districts in CT to reach out to alumni to return to their old schools to talk to students about their post-high school journeys and the challenges they faced to inspire students to stay in school, graduate and pursue post-secondary education.

Pamela Selders is an organizer, advocate, activist and does healing

work. She is the owner of Pam’s Personals, a company that promotes healing through consultation, holistic health aromatherapy, herbalism and dream work. Pamela pursued academics as an undergraduate at Tennessee State University and graduate studies at the Processwork Center of Oregon. Her justice work spans over several decades. As a native St. Louisan, Pamela responded to the call for activism in the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014 with the death of Michael Brown. Pamela is co-founder of Moral Monday CT, a statewide Connecticut-based racial/ social justice coalition of people of faith and conscious. She organized and led the first Black Lives Matter protests and arrests here in Connecticut. She has trained a number of organizers and activists across the state. With Moral Monday CT Justice Institute’s flagship initiatives, she facilitates Revolutionary Conversations and Understanding White Supremacy classes. She has provided leadership and guidance to resistance work through partnerships nationally with The Poor People’s Campaign and globally in Brazil and Palestine/Israel. Pamela is founder and visionary of CT Black Women (CTBW), a grassroot community-based organization that calls Black women leaders together to support one another and build community through activism, advocacy, education and creativity. In the 2 years of existence, CTBW has successfully advocated for groundbreaking legislation directly impacting Black and Brown people in Connecticut to include: the Police Accountability law with a focus on the “Amy Cooper” portion of the law, the Crown Act and the most recent passage of the Declaring Racism as a Public Health Crisis. For Pamela, “All work I do, be it social, political or through modalities is to support the healing of humanity.”

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Spotlight Recipient Committee We are grateful to the following women who served on this year’s Spotlight Recipient Committee and helped to identify the 2021 Leaders for Social Jusitice Spotlight Recipients. Co-Chair Joaquina Borges King

Co-Chair Abby Warren

Senior Counsel Eversource

Partner Robinson+Cole

Sharon Cappetta Adrienne Farrar Houel

Tricia Hyacinth Brittney Yancy

Production Services Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network Connecticut Public is Connecticut’s only state-wide, community-supported public media service. In addition to delivering highly trusted PBS and NPR programming, Connecticut Public also produces award-winning local news, public affairs and entertainment programming covering the issues and ideas most relevant to the people of Connecticut. We are parent company for Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR) and three TV channels: Connecticut Public Television (CPTV); Spirit; and PBS KIDS 24/7. Our goal is to ensure our communities see themselves reflected and represented in our public media services, which reach one million people each month. Connecticut Public programming is accessible over the air, via cable, and digitally via ctpublic.org; cptv.org and our Connecticut Public app, as well as via our podcasts, social media, email newsletters, and the Passport videoon-demand service, which offers an extensive PBS library of programs for members.  Our local television and radio programs air and stream live, and are available digitally on demand. These include CUTLINE, our flagship public affairs program about Connecticut, and our radio talk shows/podcasts include Where We Live hosted by Lucy Nalpathanchil, The Colin McEnroe Show, Disrupted  with Khalilah Brown-Dean, Audacious with Chion Wolf, and Seasoned with hosts Chef Plum and Marysol Castro.

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

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Founding President’s Award In 2013, in honor of our Founding President, Geena Clonan, we inaugurated the Founding President’s Award to recognize the outstanding work of a Connecticut non-profit that educates and empowers women. The eighth annual award honors:

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Board of Trustees Chairman

Vice Chair

Treasurer

Secretary

Senior Vice President Director of Product Management Webster Bank

Vice President of Engineering Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company

Partner blumshapiro

Advertising Director Republican–American

Desiree Wolfe

Meryl Mallery

Lori M. Budnick, CPA

Susan Sprano

Trustees Melinda Agsten

Partner Wiggin and Dana LLP

Geena Clonan

Founding President Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Beth Costello

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer The Hartford

Kate Engler

Director, Environmental Assessment Loureiro Engineering Associates

Tracy L. Feliciani

Managing Director, Health & Public Service Client Service Group Accenture, Inc.

Meryl Mallery

Deb Geyer

Vice President, Environment, Health, Safety and Corporate Social Responsibility Stanley Black & Decker

Vice President of Engineering Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company

Lindsay Castonguay Hany

Mickey Mattei

Senior Vice President, Senior Relationship Manager,

Director of Special Projects & Foundation Development The Connecticut Forum

Bank of America Merrill LynchLodewick Foundation

Ruby Melton

Jennifer Jackson

President & CEO Connecticut Hospital Association

Melinda Kaufmann

Counsel Pullman & Comely, LLC

Joaquina Borges King Senior Counsel Eversource

Retired Deputy General Counsel Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy

Ndidi Moses

Assistant United States Attorney US Attorney’s Office

Lilian C. Ulan

Principal, Delivery Leadership Slalom

Deborah Ullman

Retired Chief Executive Officer YWCA of Hartford Region

Roberta (Bert) Wachtelhausen President WellSpark Health

Abby Warren

Associate Robinson + Cole

Nancy Wheeler President WheelerConnect

Brittney Yancy

Assistant Professor of Humanities, Goodwin University

Consulting Scholar Rosalyn Amenta, M.A.R., Ph.D. Director of Women’s Programs Southern Connecticut State University

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame Staff

Sarah Smith Lubarsky Executive Director

Isabel Pestana Development Manager

Michelle Marchese Manager of Marketing and Operations

Halima Flynn Development Associate

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Elisabeth "Liz" Krebs Education Manager

Celebrating your tireless

COMMITMENT TO OTHERS.

We are pleased to sponsor the 28th Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame’s Annual Induction Ceremony and Celebration. Every day, you help make our community a better place to live. We do our best to support you, your organization and the people you serve. We’re always proud to help our neighbors.

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Webster Bank, N.A. Member FDIC Webster Bank, the Webster Bank logo and the W symbol are trademarks of Webster Financial Corporation and Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. © 2021 Webster Financial Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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About the Hall Our Inductees Mary Jobe Akeley: 1886-1966

Geographer, mountaineer, photographer and writer—one of the world’s leading explorers.

Inducted 1994

Anni Albers:

Evelyn Longman Batchelder: 1874-1954

A prolific sculptor, created Bushnell Park’s “Spirit of Victory.”

Inducted 1994

Adrianne Baughns Wallace:

1899-1994

First weaver to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.

1944-

Marian Anderson:

Inducted 2000

Inducted 1994 1897-1993

Renowned contralto vocalist and first African-American singer to perform with the Metropolitan Opera.

Inducted 1994

Catharine Beecher: 1800-1878

Founder and first president of the Hartford Female Seminary.

Inducted 1994

Beatrice Fox Auerbach: 1887-1968

President of G. Fox & Company, business leader and philanthropist.

Inducted 1994

Emma Fielding Baker: 1828-1916

Mohegan medicine woman, responsible for regulating tribal land divisions and maintaining Mohegan historical records and oral traditions.

Inducted 1994

Josephine Bennett: 1880-1961

Powerful campaigner for a woman’s right to vote.

Inducted 2020

Frances Ellen Burr: 1831-1923

One of Connecticut’s first suffragist organizers and co-founder of the Connecticut Woman’s Suffrage Association.

Inducted 2020

Lucia Chase: 1897-1986

Emily Dunning Barringer: 1876-1961

The first female ambulance surgeon and the first female physician to secure a surgical residency.

Inducted 2000

First female television anchor in Connecticut and the first female African-American television newscaster in New England.

Co-Founder, Director, and benefactor of the American Ballet Theatre.

Inducted 2018

Jewel Plummer Cobb: 1924-2017

Leading cell biologist and educator.

Inducted 2008

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Jody Cohen:

Annie Dillard:

The first woman rabbi in Connecticut to have an extended tenure of her own congregation.

Author of 1975 Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.”

1954-

Inducted 1994

Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt: 1826-1905

First woman in America to establish a major art collection, later bequeathed to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

1945-

Inducted 1997

Beatrix Farrand: 1872-1959

Nationally renowned landscape architect.

Inducted 2014

Helen M. Feeney: 1919-2004

Martha Coolidge:

First woman in New England and one of the first nationwide to serve as chancellor of an archdiocese.

Filmmaker and first woman president of the Director’s Guild of America.

Fidelia Hoscott Fielding:

Inducted 1997 1946-

Inducted 2005

Prudence Crandall: 1803-1890

Teacher and abolitionist; Connecticut’s State Heroine.

Inducted 1994

Katharine Seymour Day: 1870-1964

Landmark conservationist.

Inducted 1994

Rosa DeLauro: 1943-

U.S. Representative of Connecticut’s 3rd district since 1990, sharp political strategist and champion of women’s causes.

Inducted 2013

Inducted 1995

1827-1908

A member of the Mohegan Pequot tribe and responsible for the preservation of her tribe’s language and customs.

Inducted 1994

Catherine Flanagan: 1889-1927

Connecticut state and national organizer for the radical National Women’s Party (NWP)

Inducted 2020

Sarah Lee Brown Fleming: 1876-1963

One of the first black women in America to publish a novel and a tireless advocate for social, political and educational opportunities for AfricanAmerican women.

Inducted 2020

Helen M. Frankenthaler: 1928-2011

Revolutionary abstract expressionist painter.

Inducted 2005

Barbara Hackman Franklin: 1940-

President and CEO of Barbara Franklin Enterprises, 29th U.S. Secretary of Commerce, led the first White House effort to recruit women for high-level government jobs.

Inducted 2013

Martha Minerva Franklin: 1870-1968

Pioneer of the movement for Black nurses.

Inducted 2009

Edythe J. Gaines: 1922-2006

First female African-American superintendent of public schools in Connecticut.

Inducted 1996

Anne Garrels: 1951-

Groundbreaking journalist and 23-year NPR Senior Foreign Correspondent best known for her coverage of conflicts around the world.

Inducted 2012

Charlotte Perkins Gilman: 1860-1935

Leading intellectual, social reformer, and author.

Inducted 1994

Patricia GoldmanRakic: 1937-2003

World-renowned neuroscientist.

Inducted 2008

Dorothy Hamill: 1956-

Olympic gold medalist and World Championship figure skating winner.

Inducted 2007

The Hill Sisters: Three sisters who campaigned for the passage of the 19th Amendment

Inducted 2020

•Clara Hill

1871-1955

Dorothy Goodwin:

Alice Hamilton: 1869-1970

•Elsie Hill

Five-term Democratic state representative.

First female Harvard professor, pioneer in industrial medicine.

•Helena Hill

Ella Tambussi Grasso:

Jane Hamilton-Merritt:

Dotha Bushnell Hillyer:

Photo journalist, educator and author; nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on behalf of the Hmong people of Laos.

Founder and benefactor of the Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall.

1914-2007

Inducted 1994 1919-1981

First woman in the nation to be elected governor in her own right.

Inducted 1994

Kristen Griest: 1989-

Inducted 1994 1947-

Inducted 1999

1883-1970 1875-1958

1843-1932

Inducted 2003

Dorrit Hoffleit: 1907-2007

Astronomer, author of Bright Star Catalogue, Annenberg Award winner.

The U.S. Army's first female infantry officer and one of the first two women to successfully complete Army Ranger School.

Katharine Hepburn:

Estelle Griswold:

Inducted 1994

Isabella Beecher Hooker:

Katharine Houghton Hepburn:

Founder of Connecticut Women’s Suffrage Association.

1878-1951

Inducted 1994

Mary Goodrich Jenson:

Florence Griswold:

Prominent champion of women’s rights and Planned Parenthood.

Fostered the Impressionist art movement in America.

Caroline Maria Hewins:

Mary Hall:

Pioneer in library services for children.

Inducted 2017 1900-1981

Leader of the battle for elimination of Connecticut’s anti-birth control statute.

Inducted 1994 1850-1937

Inducted 2002 1843-1927

First female lawyer in Connecticut.

Inducted 1994

1907-2003

One of America’s most accomplished actresses; winner of four Academy Awards.

Inducted 1994 1846-1926

Inducted 1995

Inducted 1998

1822-1907

1907-2004

First female pilot in Connecticut, first female reporter for the Hartford Courant with a bylined column.

Inducted 2000

Emeline Roberts Jones: 1836- 1916

First female dentist in America.

Inducted 1994

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

About the Hall Our Inductees Joan Joyce:

Annie Leibovitz:

Clare Boothe Luce:

Inspirational woman athlete achieving greatness in softball, basketball, volleyball, and golf.

Internationally renowned photographer whose large and distinguished body of work includes some of the most well-known portraits of our time.

Playwright, novelist, first U.S. Congresswoman from Connecticut; ambassador to Italy.

1940-

1949-

Inducted 2007

Helen Keller: 1880-1968

Inspirational champion of civil liberties for the disabled.

Inducted 2006

Principal author of the Food Stamp Act of 1964 and first director of the U.S. Food Stamp Program.

Inducted 2011

Barbara Kennelly: 1936-

First Connecticut woman to be elected to eight terms in Congress.

Inducted 1994

Eileen Kraus: First woman to head a major regional financial institution.

Inducted 2002

Susanne Langer: 1895-1985

Leading 20th-century philosopher.

Inducted 1996

Jennifer Lawton: 1963-

Innovative entrepreneur, technologist and pioneer in the 3D printing industry.

Madeleine L’Engle:

Visionary founder of Women’s Health Research at Yale.

1918-2007

Rebecca Lobo: 1973-

Award-winning athlete, television analyst, and advocate for breast cancer awareness.

Inducted 2016

Donna Lopiano: 1946-

Gifted athlete; instrumental in ensuring gender equity in sports.

Inducted 1995

1938-2017

Inducted 2014

Carolyn M. Mazure:

Inducted 1996

1917-1997

Inducted 1994

Inducted 2012

Award-winning children’s author.

Isabelle Kelley:

1903-1987

Linda Koch Lorimer: 1952-

Former Vice President for Global and Strategic Initiatives at Yale University and visionary leader in higher education, spearheading strategic partnerships locally and abroad.

Inducted 2013

Ruth A. Lucas:

1949-

Inducted 2009

Barbara McClintock: 1902-1992

Famed geneticist and Nobel Prize Winner.

Inducted 2008

Dollie McLean: 1936-

Founding executive director of the Artists Collective, Hartford.

Inducted 2003

Faith Middleton: 1948-

Thought-provoking Connecticut radio broadcaster and host of The Faith Middleton Show on WNPR.

Inducted 2012

Carolyn Miles: 1961-

President and CEO of Save the Children, international leader creating change for children around the world.

Inducted 2015

1920-2013

Rachel Taylor Milton:

The first African-American woman to attain the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Air Force.

Founder of the Urban League of Hartford.

Inducted 2017

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

1901-1995

Inducted 1994

Constance Baker Motley: 1921-2005

First female African-American federal court judge; successfully argued nine U. S. Supreme Court civil rights cases.

Inducted 1998

Anne M. Mulcahy: 1952-

Former Chairman and visionary leader of Xerox Corporation.

Inducted 2010

Denise Lynn Nappier: 1951-

First woman elected State Treasurer in Connecticut history, first African-American woman elected State Treasurer in the nation, and first African-American woman elected to statewide office in Connecticut.

Inducted 2011

Edna Negron Rosario: 1944-

Educator who established the first family resource center and school-based health clinic in the nation.

Inducted 1994

Indra K. Nooyi: 1955-

Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, known for her global leadership, strategy, corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts.

Inducted 2015

Laura Nyro: 1947-1997

Notable songwriter and singer.

Inducted 2001

Martha Parsons:

Rosa Ponselle:

Regina Rush Kittle:

First female business executive in the state of Connecticut to earn her position by merit.

Legendary Metropolitan Opera diva, honored on a U. S. postage stamp.

Alice Paul:

Sarah Porter:

A military and law enforcement trailblazer and the highest-ranking AfricanAmerican woman to serve in the Connecticut State Police.

1885-1977

1813-1900

Leader of women’s suffrage movement, founder of National Woman’s Party.

Educator, founder of Miss Porter’s School.

Inducted 1994

1869-1965

Inducted 2010

Inducted 1994

Jane Pauley:

1897-1981

Inducted 1998

Theodate Pope Riddle: 1867- 1946

Broadcast journalist, advocate for children’s health, education and mental health.

Noted female architect who designed the Hill- Stead Museum, and the Avon Old Farms and Westover schools.

Inducted 2016

Inducted 1994

Ellen Ash Peters:

Catherine Roraback:

First woman to be named a Chief Justice of the Connecticut State Supreme Court.

Attorney, foremost advocate for civil liberties.

1950-

1930-

Inducted 1994

Ann Petry:

1908-1997 First African-American woman to sell one million copies of a novel, “The Street.”

1920-2007

Inducted 2001

Anika Noni Rose: 1972-

Tony Award-winning actress of TV, film, and stage, and voiced the first black Disney princess in The Princess and the Frog

Inducted 1994

Inducted 2018

Emily Pierson:

Margo Rose:

State organizer of the Connecticut Woman’s Suffrage Movement and organizer of the 1912 “Trolley Campaign.”

Artist, teacher, performer, and “grand dame” of the American Puppet Theater.

1881-1971

Inducted 2020

1903-1997

Inducted 1997

Margaret Fogarty Rudkin:

1961-

Inducted 2017

Rosalind Russell: 1906-1976

Legendary award-winning actress of the stage and screen.

Inducted 2005

Susan Saint James: 1946-

Award-winning television and film star and philanthropist.

Inducted 1994

Marian Salzman: 1959-

Thought leader in public relations, among the world’s top five trendspotters.

Inducted 2014

Maria C. Sanchez: 1926-1989

First Hispanic woman to be elected to the Connecticut legislature.

Inducted 1995

Mary Townsend Seymour: 1873-1957

Pioneering advocate for equal rights for African Americans, co-founder Hartford Chapter NAACP.

Inducted 2006

Lydia Huntley Sigourney: 1791-1865

One of the first American women to succeed at a literary career.

Inducted 1994

The Smiths of Glastonbury: Revered elder stateswomen of the suffrage movement.

Inducted 1994

•Hannah Hadassah Smith 1767-1850

•Hancy Zephina Smith 1787-1871

•Cyrinthia Sacretia Smith 1788-1864

•Laurilla Aleroyla Smith 1789-1857

•Julia Evelina Smith 1792-1886

•Abby Hadassah Smith 1797-1878

Virginia Thrall Smith: 1836-1903

Activist in support of services to women and children.

Inducted 1994

Helen L. Smits: 1937-

International healthcare leader and teacher.

Inducted 2009

1898-1967

Founder of Pepperidge Farm.

Inducted 1994

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Our Inductees Anne Stanback:

Augusta Lewis Troup:

Patricia Wald:

Maggie Wilderotter:

Courageous activist for social justice for the lesbian and gay community; founding president of Love Makes a Family.

Union organizer, journalist and promoter of the suffrage movement, beloved educator and advocate for teachers and minority groups.

First woman to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, subsequently serving as its Chief Judge.

Telecommunications innovator and Chairman and CEO of Frontier Communications.

1958-

Inducted 2006

Hilda Crosby Standish: 1902-2005

First medical director of Connecticut’s first birth control clinic.

Inducted 1994

1848-1920

Inducted 2013

Sophie Tucker: 1884-1966

Celebrated singer and actress.

Inducted 1999

Antonina Uccello:

Joan Steitz:

1922-

1941-

Distinguished professor of molecular biophysics.

First woman to be elected mayor of a Connecticut municipality.

Inducted 2008

Inducted 1999

Maria Miller Stewart:

Glenna Collett Vare:

1803-1879

1903-1989

First American-born woman to publicly address mixed gender and race audiences on abolition.

Golfing champion who dominated American women’s golf in the 1920s.

Inducted 1998

Inducted 2001

Lillian Vernon:

Harriet Beecher Stowe: 1811-1896

Author, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

Inducted 1994

1929-2015

Founded the first corporation by a woman to be publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange.

Gladys Tantaquidgeon:

Inducted 1998

Anthropologist, Mohegan medicine woman.

Florence Wald:

1899-2005

Inducted 1994

Betty Tianti: 1929-1994

The nation’s first woman president of a state AFL-CIO.

1916-2008

Founder of hospice care in the United States and a former Dean of the Yale School of Nursing.

Inducted 1999

Inducted 1994

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

1928-

Inducted 2011

Tina Weymouth: 1950-

1955-

Inducted 2010

Miriam Therese “MT” Winter: 1938-

Innovative Rock & Roll Hall of Fame bass guitarist, songwriter and co-founder of the influential rock and funk bands Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club: pioneer of New Wave and Hip Hop

Medical Mission Sister, composer, author and musician; founder of the Women’s Leadership Institute at Hartford Seminary.

Laura Wheeler Waring:

1890-1984

Inducted 2018 1887- 1948

Artist and educator best known for her landscape paintings and portraits of prominent African Americans.

Inducted 2002

Chase Going Woodhouse: First female Democrat elected Secretary of the State of Connecticut.

Inducted 1994

Inducted 1997

Mabel Osgood Wright:

Hannah Bunce Watson:

Founder, first president of Connecticut Audubon Society; established first bird sanctuary in the U.S. in Fairfield, CT.

1750-1807

Publisher of the Hartford Courant, one of the first women publishers in America.

Inducted 1994

Margaret BourkeWhite: 1904-1971

First female photographer for Life magazine and first female American war photojournalist.

Inducted 2015

1859-1935

Inducted 1998

Joyce Yerwood 1909-1987

First African-American woman physician in Fairfield County, founder of the Yerwood Center, and pioneer in drug treatment programs.

Inducted 2016

Thanks for making a difference in our community Bank of America recognizes Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. Community leaders like you are a vital resource and inspiration to us all. Thanks to you, progress is being made and our community is becoming a better place to live and work. Visit us at bankofamerica.com/local.

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

About the Hall

EDUCATE. INSPIRE. We are a provider of innovative educational programs and tools that motivate women and girls to believe in their unlimited potential. Our Inductees’ stories provide an inspirational window into women’s history.

Educational Programming School Programs

STEMfems Workshops

We bring the galvanizing stories of

We host “STEMfems: Women Transforming Our

our inductees directly to students in

World” events, energizing 200 middle school

grades 4th-8th. We offer programs

girls to consider careers in science, technology,

on over twenty topics that are

engineering, and mathematics. The girls explore

aligned with state and national

the historical impact of women in STEM and

standards.

participate in hands-on science workshops with professional women in the field.

FinanceFems Financefems provides an opportunity for high school girls to participate in hands-on workshops led by women finance professionals in the areas of budgeting, credit, and financial mental and physical well-being. The young women will leave the program with a financial toolkit for their future.

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Community Outreach Talks on the Road

Hear the stories and join the discussion about remarkable Connecticut women at one of our community Talks on the Road. Book a speaker for your organization or library to be inspired by the struggles and accomplishments of our inductees.

Exhibits Framed Inductee portraits with biographies, as well as our "We Fight for Roses, Too" women's history panel exhibit and our "Rise Up, Sisters!" suffrage panel exhibit may be loaned free of charge to libraries, schools, organizations and corporate partners.

Corporate Programs

Empower your coworkers with our one-hour workshop on cultivating confidence in the workplace, or work with us to create a custom inspirational talk.

Educational Partners Thank you to our foundation and corporate partners for supporting our award-winning educational programs throughout the year. Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation Elizabeth Carse Foundation Ensign-Bickford Industries, Inc. The Hartford

William and Alice Mortensen Foundation SBM Charitable Foundation Stanley Black & Decker

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Our Scholarship Eileen Kraus Scholarship

Eileen Kraus 1938-2017

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

The Eileen Kraus Scholarship was established in 2016 in partnership with Kaman Corporation and has been extended into the future thanks to the generosity of the Kraus family and friends. The scholarship awards $5,000 each year to an outstanding Connecticut woman beginning her first year of college or university. The scholarship honors Eileen’s legacy and ensures that the next generation of women leaders are able to follow the trail she so capably blazed.

Congratulations to Our 2021 Eileen Kraus Scholarship Winner The Hall is pleased to announce the winner of the 2021 Eileen Kraus Scholarship, Viktoria Wulff-Andersen. Viktoria is a 17-year-old student and journalist from Danbury, Connecticut. At Danbury High School, she was a model student, standing as salutatorian and the resident of the National English Honor Society, National Math Honor Society, Model UN, and Video Production Club. Outside of school, she serves as an educational ambassador for AMBYESE and an alumni board member for the International Youth Volunteer Corps. Her passion for leadership and writing has allowed her to be published in over 10 different news sources (including the YRIS) and became the editor-in-chief of her school’s newspaper, literary journal, and yearbook. She has won numerous awards for her accomplishments - from the Connecticut Governor’s Scholar Award to the Western Connecticut Superintendent Award. Viktoria hopes that her diligence will continue at Duke University, where she plans to study Political Science with a certificate in Journalism on her path to becoming a criminal defense attorney and freelance journalist.

2022 Scholarship Application Eligible Applicants must be: • Female students currently residing in Connecticut • Recent high school graduates or in the final year of secondary school • Intending to enroll in first year of college or university

Application and information available online at cwhf.org/scholarship Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

2021 Winning Essay Jane Pauley and the Significance of Mental Health in Journalism By: Viktoria Wulff-Andersen Remembrances from my first article adorn my room. The pile of weathered notebooks paints the picture of the first person I ever interviewed: a fifteen-year-old boy teetering withexcitement from his flight. The hung press pass serves as a reminder of the Education First internship that awarded me the opportunity to join the world of journalism. The framed articlethat originally appeared in my high school’s main office emphasizes just how far-reaching the impact of my journalism is. I’m under no impression that I’m the Jacob Riis or Robert Fisk of my community; I write features rather than exposés about societal corruption. Still, through witnessing the smiles my work has produced and the eagerness in someone’s eyes as they pitch a topic to me, I recognize that I have become a pulpit for civilian voices within my community. I’ll admit it: I never understood the significance behind that role until I became the subject of my work. It was around Christmas time of my junior year, and I had been discharged from eating-disorder treatment just a couple months prior. All I could think about was how I would soon be surrounded by festivities and food. Instead of letting my anxiety overwhelm me, I decided to do what I do best: write an article, one meant to bring awareness to those struggling like me by revealing my secret struggle. When “How to Survive the Holidays With an Eating Disorder” was published, I felt relieved of the weight on my shoulders. My story was finally being heard. Is this what others felt like when they read my work? When I read “Unrecognized Vulnerabilities” by Jane Pauley, I finally got my answer. The article’s vivid insight about Pauley’s thoughts and criticism of the expectation for mental normalcy prompted me to literally lean into my screen, entranced in a state of belonging. I resonated with her words despite our dissimilar diagnoses. Thumbing through her article in my room was like questioning existence with my best friend by my side. Why am I the way I am? Should I blame my mental state on family history? My environment? How do I cope when my brain seems to be moving in the opposite direction of Earth’s revolution? Perhaps I was most drawn to Pauley out of all 125 inductees because despite these same questions looming over her head, she still pushed forward to become one of the most grounded and respected journalists in the industry. Prior to being admitted into the

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame in 2016, Pauley achieved numerous accolades within her occupational life. She was the first woman to anchor the evening newscast at WISHTV, considered to be one of the largest television networks in the nation. She was a co-host on the Today show, traveling across the globe to interview prominent leaders like Princess Diana and Pope Jon-Paul II. She was the first co-host on Dateline, was the star of the Jane Pauley Show, and is still leading CBS News Sunday Morning in today’s shifting press climate. Pauley was riding the wave of success while still enduring mental health issues, not knowing the name of her struggles until she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in 2000. Even then, she could have chosen to remain quiet about her struggles, to avoid drawing attention to herself during an era where mental health disorders still held a lot of stigma. She didn’t. Instead, she chose to broadcast and orate her struggles, paving the way for others who similarly suffered to speak out about their issues and recognize themselves on television. Pauley proved that mental illness doesn’t prevent you from being as intelligent, diligent, and passionate as your neurotypical and non-suffering peers. Pauley’s work destigmatized talking about mental health in a way that affected the lives of thousands of readers and viewers. Publishing “How to Survive the Holidays With an Eating Disorder” allowed me to see that journalism was more than just a hobby. Journalism was a way for me to bring press accessibility to my city’s streets in interviewing those overlooked by adult journalists. I shifted my focus from highlighting extracurriculars to analyzing voices on issues like Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ rights, and conflicts threatening civilian security. I focused on highlighting voices instead of establishments. I used the memories of isolation and trauma from my battles with depression, anxiety, and anorexia, coupled with the metaphorical welcoming embraces of treatment, to motivate me to reach out and inspire others through my articles. I began to be featured beyond my city’s borders to New England as a whole, so I became more than a student wishing to make a change. I became a teller of untold stories. Jane Pauley has allowed me to recognize that this chapter of my life isn’t over. Critical issues and perspectives that challenge societal subjugation can continue to be brought to the forefront of conversation as I continue pursuing reportage in university, internships, and my future career as a Political Science correspondent, drawing from my personal experience and vulnerability as the coveted journalist and 2016 Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame inductee does.

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Special Thanks Event Production Production Manager Event Resources, Inc Producers Sarah Smith Lubarsky Geena Clonan

Photographer Stephen Wang Stephen Wang Photography

Program Book Graphic Design Michelle Marchese

Program Cover Graphic Desig Michelle Marchese

2021 Tribute Films Producer/Director/ Editor/Writer Karyl Evans

Production Services CT Public

Karyl Evans Productions

Executive Producer Sarah Smith Lubarsky

Production Assistance Isabel Pestana Michelle Marchese

On-Camera Interviews Teresa Younger Film Teresa Younger Patricia Russo Sujatha Jesudason

Kica Matos Film Kica Matos Paul Bass Emily Byrne

Jerimarie Leiesgang Film William Mann Natasha Rose Lombardi, LMSW Renata Vickrey

Narrator Adienne Baughns Wallace

Narrator Solidad O’Brien

Narrator Diane Smith

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

TOGETHER, WE ARE AMAZING Cigna congratulates this year’s inductees into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. You truly inspire all of us to reach higher and do better.

All Cigna products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company. The Cigna name, logo, and other Cigna marks are owned by Cigna Intellectual Property, Inc. 957298 08/21 © 2021 Cigna

Eversource is proud to support Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame At Eversource, we feel a diverse, inclusive workforce promotes innovative ideas in an ever-changing environment. Congratulations to this year’s Inductees. Thank you for the inspiration and leadership you so generously share.

Eversource.com

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

COMMUNITY. IT’S MORE THAN JUST WHERE WE WORK.

Helping people achieve great things is at the heart of what we do at The Hartford every day. We’re proud to support the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame and we celebrate the 2021 inductees for their accomplishments within our local communities. TheHartford.com The Hartford® is The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries. 21-CR-853350 © July 2021 The Hartford

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Vera is powered by hundreds of advocates, researchers, and activists working to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems until they’re fair for all. Vera is now a national organization that partners with impacted communities and government leaders for change. We develop just, antiracist solutions so that money doesn’t determine freedom; fewer people are in jails, prisons, and immigration detention; and everyone in the system is treated with dignity.

Donate at vera.org

Barnes Group proudly supports the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

28th Annual Induction Ceremony and Celebration BGInc.com

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Congratulations 2021 Inductees & Honorees Thank you for your important contributions to social justice in Connecticut and beyond. Continue to lead & inspire!

The Green Bank is committed to confronting climate change and providing all of society a healthier and more prosperous future by increasing and accelerating the flow of private capital into the green economy. Learn more at www.ctgreenbank.com.

Conning is a proud supporter of the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. Conning celebrates women whose legacies add new colors to the palette of potential for all of us.

Asia | Europe | North America conning.com

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Wiggin and Dana congratulates the

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame and the

2021 Inductees

Teresa C. Younger Kica Matos Jerimarie Liesegang for their work to make society more just and equitable.

For more information about the law firm of Wiggin and Dana, please contac t Melinda Agsten at magsten@wiggin.com or 203.498.4326

___

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Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Taking your giving to the next level A donor advised fund at The Community Foundation is your personal account for charitable giving. It offers you the flexibility to pool and invest a variety of charitable assets and the convenience of supporting charitable organizations when and where you choose. Learn more at cfgnh.org/dafnow or call 203-777-7071.

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Credit: Christina Sutton-Goubourn

Credit: Gather New Haven

Credit: Photos by Dex

Credit: Gerald Wenner

Your Giving Your Way

The Walker’s community is proud to join the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame in honoring leaders for social justice, including Walker’s Board Member and Ms. Foundation for Women CEO and President Teresa C. Younger.

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Inspiration through education PwC is proud to support the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame as part of our commitment to creating opportunities and meaningful change in the world. TheNewEquation.com

1031351-2022-Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame 2021 Ad-B&W.indd 1

8/13/2021 1:22:05 AM

We are proud to sponsor the

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Southern Connecticut State University is proud to applaud the 2021 Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame Inductees

Teresa C. Younger Kica Matos Jerimarie Liesegang (posthumous) for their leadership, vision, and determination.

SouthernCT.edu

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Charter Oak Cultural Center’s 20th Annual

Vision Awards Gala Thursday, October 21, 2021 | 5:30 PM

HONORING

Social Justice State Rep. Julio Concepción

Arts & Education Rachna Agrawal

“Praise” by Shanna T. Melton

36"x48" | Acrylic on Stretched Canvas | www.PoeticSoulArts.net

Jewish Heritage Scott O’Keefe

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit

charteroakcenter.org/gala2021

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

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Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Marcum

is a proud to support the

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame’s 28th Annual Induction Ceremony and Celebration

marcumllp.com

The Moses Tax Group Thanks The Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame for all you do And Congratulates All of the Accomplished Women Honored this evening

Celebrating our 25 th Anniversary

mtg.tax

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame Moses.HallofFame.092519.indd 1 9/25/19 3:32 PM

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire

Join Us VIRTUALLY!

Meet Our 2021 Inductees!

NOVEMBER 4TH | 7-8PM

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Join us virtually on November 4th from 7-8PM as we host a special online event featuring our

2021 Inductees - Leaders for Social Justice Speaking live, Teresa Younger and Kica Matos will share their stories, including visions, challenges and goals for a future where diversity, inclusion and equality break all barriers of discrimination.

Tickets on Sale soon! Visit www.cwhf.org in the coming weeks for more information.

Honor • Preserve • Educate • Inspire